Authors: Mitchel Grace
Michael looked at her, and her face was
beaming. He had never done anything like this for her, and little did he know
that no other man had either. For the first time, she was impressed by him.
“I know I didn’t have to, but I’m
really glad that I did. Seeing your smiling face makes it all worth it.”
Michael fixed their plates. Jess
couldn’t wait to taste the chicken, but when she cut into it, a problem arose.
The chicken was still bleeding. Michael looked at her expectantly. She raised
the chicken to her mouth. You have to at least eat a little bit of this for
Michael’s sake, Jess thought. She put the chicken in her mouth. It tasted terrible,
but somehow she managed to swallow it. Then she moved on to the beans. Surely
he didn’t mess this up. Beans are easy to make, Jess thought. Each individual
bean felt more like a rock in her mouth. They weren’t soft at all. Instead,
they tasted as if they were still a bit frozen. Jess displayed the best fake
smile that she possibly could.
“Hey, what are you guys eating? Do you
mind if I have a little something?” Lee asked as he walked into the kitchen.
“No, but this is kind of a private
moment,” Michael said in frustration.
“I’ll only be a minute,” Lee said as he
grabbed a plate and a piece of chicken.
As he started to put the chicken up to
his mouth, Jess could no longer contain herself.
“Don’t eat that chicken if you value
your life!” Jess yelled.
“What?” Michael asked.
“Just taste it,” Jess answered.
Michael tasted the chicken, and he was
very unpleasantly surprised by what he found.
“Oh my God! Why did you eat that?”
Michael asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t want to hurt
your feelings.”
Now Michael felt terrible, but not
because Jess didn’t like the food that he made, but because even when he was
trying to take care of her, she still ended up having to be sensitive to his
feelings. Stupid doctor! This is a complete disaster, Michael thought to
himself.
“Maybe we could just order a pizza,”
Jess said.
“Is that what you want?” Michael asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Then that’s what we’re going to
do,” Michael said and grabbed the phone.
It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t the thing
that he personally wanted to eat, but if she wanted it tonight, she was going
to get it. As Lee started walking back to his room, Michael felt a little guilty.
“Hey, Lee, it isn’t really fair for me
to keep you all cooped up in your room for the rest of the night while we sit
out here and eat pizza. Do you want to join us?” Michael asked.
“Sure. I’ll join you guys for some
pizza.”
The three of them discussed what had
happened throughout the day as they ate.
“Wait a minute, you mean that creep who
killed David escaped?” Lee asked Jess.
Michael looked confused. He didn’t
really know anything about the events that had happened while he was gone.
Noticing this, Jess gave him a look as if to say
I’ll explain everything later.
“Yeah, he did,” Jess said.
Lee thought for a moment and then sat
his plate down.
“I’ve got to let Trish know what’s
going on.”
Back in Trish’s room, she was lying on
her bed in the dark. She had been in and out of consciousness throughout the
day. She wasn’t tired, but her waking reality just wasn’t worth examining
anymore. Suddenly, the door to her room flew open, and Lee came in.
“What are you doing just bursting in
here like that? What if I hadn’t been decent?” Trish asked.
“Then I wouldn’t have seen anything
that I haven’t already seen before,” Lee said.
“Just so you know, you shouldn’t ever
remind me of that again. I’m in the mood to kill someone right now, you know.”
“Listen, that doesn’t matter right now. I
have something really important to tell you.”
He told her about everything that had taken
place after the two of them left the office that day and how the man who killed
David had escaped. The news that the man who killed the only person she had ever
loved had escaped hit her like a ton of bricks. After a few moments of silence,
Lee spoke.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m just fine. As a matter of fact, I’m
going to find both of the men that you’re talking about, and I’m going to kill
one of them and bring the other one back to Campbell.”
“That’s just crazy! They could be
anywhere right now. How will you even find them?”
“They could be anywhere right now, but
they aren’t. We used to have about a half dozen safe houses in this area, and
my bet is that they’re hiding in one of them. They’re probably just waiting for
things to calm down so it will be easier to move around.”
“And why exactly do you think that
they’re hiding out? They could have just as easily risked getting caught and
skipped town,” Lee said.
“If I were in their situation, I would
just lay low,” Trish said as she started walking out of the room.
Lee followed her until they were in the
garage.
“You aren’t really going to do this,
are you?” Lee asked.
“I am. The only real question is, am I
going to do it alone?”
“No. If you’re going to face these guys,
then you aren’t doing it by yourself. I’m coming, too.”
“Good, but do me a favor, and leave
your conscience at the door. It will do you no good where we’re going. I’m not
finding them to ask them questions. I’m out for blood.”
Chapter 12
Nathan and Sam had received a call from
Jason explaining what was going on back in Washington. Afterward, they boarded
the first plane going back. By the time they made it back to Washington and caught
a cab to Sam’s house, it was already night. When they were inside and had
settled in, Sam asked Nathan a strange question.
“So I know you told me before that you
used to collect degrees, but I have a question,” Sam said.
“What is it?” Nathan asked.
“Why didn’t anything ever stick? You’re
a very capable person. It just seems like you would have had more direction by
the time I met you.”
“Have you ever felt as if your entire
environment worked against you, or as if your whole world sucked all of the
light out of your life, no matter how hard you tried to keep it?” Nathan asked.
Sam didn’t know what to say. She had
never really known true happiness or passion until recently, so how was she supposed
to answer that question? She only responded with a slight nod in hopes that it
would suffice to make Nathan continue his explanation.
“Before I met you, it had been so long
since I had been happy or been around anyone else who was even close to happy,
that I had forgotten what it was actually like to feel joy or passion. I looked
at the world around me, and it was full of people who were passionless and sad.
I did find things that were interesting, and I did master those things, but
with no one to share it with, sooner or later, everything became a chore. There
was no happiness in me, and as I looked around, there was no inspiration. As a
matter of fact, when I looked at the world around me, I felt discouraged. I
looked at the sad and boring lives of everyone around me; people who had given
up on ever finding happiness, and at some point, I felt as if their fate was
going to be my own, and as far as I could tell, I was powerless to change that
fate. I know that all of this may sound strange, but it all comes down to the
fact that I didn’t see the sense in doing anything when ultimately, there was
no one to share my life with who could be as passionate as I still wanted to be
about everything. I prayed for God to give me an opportunity to find purpose and
to find happiness, but I never knew that the joke was on me. I didn’t have to
look anywhere. You found me. Thank you for believing in me when you probably shouldn’t
have. Since I’ve met you, I’ve felt a certain peaceful purpose that I didn’t
even know existed,” Nathan said.
Sam grabbed his hand in an affectionate
manner, but inside, her mind was racing. She knew that she loved Nathan, but
she didn’t know if she should mean so much to him so soon. She didn’t want to
end up hurting him. All of this was still so new to her, and she didn’t know if
she could ever be the person who Nathan thought of her as. She just didn’t
think that at the end of the day she could be what Nathan needed. She wasn’t
passionate, and she certainly wasn’t inspiring. I’m not even good at talking to
people yet, so how can I ever be this person who he believes that I already am,
Sam wondered. To put it simply, she was feeling insecure. Nathan looked into
her eyes and saw the hint of doubt in them.
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asked.
“I just don’t think I can be that
light. I can’t inspire you, and I’m not a passionate person, or even a loving
one,” Sam said while pulling away from him.
“You were so passionate about your work
that you were willing to disobey your superiors to carry out a mission just
because you knew it was the right thing to do. You were passionate enough about
me to attack Chloe in the middle of the night, and you really can’t decide if
you’re inspiring or not to me? Every day when I look into your eyes and see the
determination in them, I am inspired. I don’t mean to put any pressure on you,
and I don’t know where you and I will end up, but I promise you that I am, and I
will be, happier just because I got to know you.”
Sam couldn’t help but feel touched by
Nathan’s words, but she still felt insecure.
“Hey, stop worrying,” Nathan said while
still noticing the look of doubt in her eyes.
“I like you, and being around you makes
me feel happier than I knew I could. That should be a simple and good thing,”
Nathan said.
Sam finally calmed down a bit. Maybe it
really was just that simple. I make the guy happy. There’s nothing to worry
about here, right, Sam thought.
“I have a much simpler question for
you. What time are we meeting everyone tomorrow?” Nathan asked.
“We’re meeting them tomorrow morning at
7:30 to talk about everything that has changed. From what Jason said, you and I
may be going after Markus sooner than we expected.”
Honestly, Nathan didn’t really care
what time they were meeting everyone else the next morning. He only wanted to
change the subject from something that had obviously made Sam feel a little
uncomfortable. He hadn’t meant for it to make her feel strange, but there was
still so much that he didn’t understand about her. She could stare a life or
death situation in the face and not blink, but when he tried to talk about
something more emotional, sometimes she would just freeze up. Nathan hadn’t
figured out a way to break through whatever wall existed for Sam yet. A normal
girl would have been happy if he had basically called her the light of his
life. Sam, on the other hand, seemed to be put off by it. What is so wrong with
me that the idea of her being important to me on a deeper level is repulsive to
her, Nathan wondered. He shook off the mystery and insecurities in his own mind
and turned his attention back to her. So what if things weren’t perfect. He had
the girl of his dreams sitting with him, and there was no way that a little
awkwardness was going to ruin their night. Nathan made sure to talk about
lighter things the rest of the evening, and the two of them had a great time.
Throughout the night, Sam’s mind often drifted back to the same doubt, though. Am
I what he needs? As messed up as I am, am I even good enough for someone like
him, Sam wondered.
* * * * *
Trish and Lee had already gone to three
locations, only to find that each one of them was empty. Trish drove to the
fourth location.
“What are we going to do even if we do
find them? We don’t have a weapon or anything,” Lee said.
“I don’t need a weapon. I’m going to
kill that man. It really is that simple,” Trish said.
“What if it’s not? They’re probably
going to be armed. If you really want to kill this guy, we should at least have
a reasonable plan.”
Trish knew he was right, but she didn’t
want to acknowledge it or stop her search for long enough to formulate a plan.
“Well, do you have any bright ideas?”
Trish asked in order to humor him.
“Not really, but I’m pretty sure that
we need a gun if we want to be able to stand a chance in this fight.”
“Fine,” she said while pulling into the
parking lot of a small pawn shop.
“What are we doing here?”
“It’s your plan. Go buy a gun.”
“Why me?” Lee asked.
Trish sighed and got out of the car and
walked into the shop. It felt like it took forever, but eventually, she emerged.
“What took so long?” Lee asked.
“They have to do all types of
background checks for these sorts of things. It’s really a headache,” Trish
said.
Then they drove to the fourth location.
It was a simple apartment complex.
“Room 302 has always been a safe place
to stay,” Trish said as she stepped out of the car.
“Wait a minute. You said that there
used to be six safe houses in Washington. What if this place isn’t a safe house
now and we just burst into the house of some random people?”
“I suppose that some random people will
just be really surprised then,” Trish said and smirked.
The two of them climbed the stairs and
made it to the front of the correct room. Then Lee asked an obvious question.
“How are we supposed to get in? It’s
not like we can just knock on the door, is it?”
“What do you think that I brought you
for? You’re the muscle. Do you think that you could kick this door in?” Trish
asked.
“I seriously doubt it.”
“Well, if you don’t mind, seriously
try,” Trish said.
Lee turned and with all of his strength
kicked the door. The door didn’t budge, but Lee did crumble to the ground.
“Are you okay?” Trish asked him.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just think that my foot
might be broken.”
Just then, Trish and Lee heard a lot of
commotion from inside the apartment.
“Well, there goes the element of
surprise,” Trish said.
Lee got to his feet. His foot wasn’t
broken. He just didn’t have much of a pain tolerance.
“All right. Let’s try this again, but
this time, together,” Lee said while motioning to the door.
Lee got on the left side, and Trish got
on the right side.
“On three - one, two, three!” Trish
said, and then they both kicked the door with all of the strength they had.
The door flew open. There, just beyond
the doorway, were the two men they had been looking for. They were both
pointing guns at Trish and Lee. Trish pulled her own weapon out and pointed it at
them. After seeing that they were at a disadvantage and knowing that they were
likely going to get hurt, Lee stepped in front of Trish to shield her from any
possible gunfire.
“Step out of the way, Lee. You’re unarmed.
You can just walk away from this now, and you won’t have to get hurt with me,”
Trish said.
“No way! What’s going to happen to you,
then? You might die.”
“So what if I do? I don’t care what
happens to me, as long as that man is dead.”
“I don’t mean to break up your little
lover’s quarrel, but if you don’t lay down your weapon, then we’re going to kill
both of you,” Sully said.
Trish studied the men from behind Lee.
The man who she really wanted to kill hadn’t even taken the safety off his gun
yet. Sully’s body language said that he was ready to kill her right then and
there, though. She knew that she should worry about him first.
“Lee, trust me on this one. Move, and
we’ll both get out of here alive,” Trish said.
Lee reluctantly moved away. He didn’t
like the idea that Trish could get hurt, but when he looked into her eyes, he
saw a certain confidence. He knew that she had a plan. Trish turned her aim
toward Sully, and Lee acted accordingly.
“Hey, you know that we already have
people on the way to this location. I can’t wait to get you into a holding cell
all to myself so I can teach you the meaning of pain, you little piece of . . .”
Lee said before a shot interrupted his speech.
When Sully’s gaze had fixed on Lee
instead of on her, Trish fired, and she wasted no time in turning the gun
toward the other man. She fired two shots into his chest before he could even
click the safety off on his gun.
“This is for David,” she said as she
fired two more shots into the man’s head.
She dropped the gun to the floor, and
Lee rushed to her. She had done it. The man was dead, but somehow, she still
didn’t feel any different. David was still gone. The reality finally sank in
for her that no matter what she did, she couldn’t bring him back. She burst
into tears while grabbing onto Lee. Lee embraced her with one arm and grabbed his
cell phone with the other one. He called Campbell and explained the situation.
“We’ll have a cleanup crew there soon.
Sit tight, and if any law enforcement bothers you, just do what they say. We’ll
clear everything up with them as soon as we arrive,” Campbell said.
The night went on in a haze, and before
Lee knew it, their horrible ordeal was over. Lee drove Trish home, and they
walked inside. He started to walk to his room and lay down, but he could still
hear the sobs from Trish, so he turned and walked straight to her room.
“Hey, this has been a rough night. Do
you mind if I hang out in here for a while?” Lee asked.
Trish only motioned for him to come
inside. Lee wasn’t asking for himself, but he knew that Trish needed a friend
tonight of all nights, so he made up the excuse. He held her and tried his best
to console her until she was too tired to cry another tear, and then they both
slept side by side.
* * * * *
The next morning, the group met at a
local restaurant that had a private back room. Campbell recapped the events of
the last few days, and everyone exchanged stories of what had happened in the last
few hours. Jess hadn’t known how hard things had been for Trish. She felt bad
that she wasn’t able to be there more for her through everything, but she was
glad that Trish and Lee had grown so close.
“The office is going to be out of
commission for the next few weeks. We have to evaluate the structural integrity
of the building and start making repairs. For now, some of us are going to have
to work a little from home and communicate through phone and e-mail,” Campbell
said.